Painter and Poet No. 3

Content warning:

Contains nudity, scenes of injury and death

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Painter and Poet No. 3

1 Jan 1951
Sound
6m

Henry Moore is among the contributors to this experimental mix of verse and illustration, commissioned by the BFI for the Festival of Britain

Hello darkness my old friend. The four-part 'experiment in word, music and paintings' that was made by the BFI for the 1951 Festival of Britain did have more shade than light. But the mood in this episode is positively black. Thomas Nashe's 'In Time of Pestilence' is illustrated by Michael Ayrton, but star billing goes to Henry Moore who created some remarkable illustrations for Kathleen Raine's The Pythoness.

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From the collection

Halas & Batchelor

Celebrating the vital and varied work of the pioneering British animation studio

Halas & Batchelor Cartoon Films were a defining force in British animation for more than five decades. Founded in 1940 by the Hungarian-born John Halas and Watford-born Joy Batchelor, the company progressed from producing cinema advertisements to creating vital public information films during and after the Second World War, before producing Britain's first animated feature film, Animal Farm, in 1954.

Whether working in advertising, children's television or independent short films, Halas and Batchelor championed animation as both a commercial enterprise and an art form. Though more than the story of John and Joy, their vision, advocacy and innovation helped shape the careers of generations of artists and practitioners, while bringing a broad range animated storytelling to audiences on screens both large and small.